With defensive end Sam Williams out for the season, the Dallas Cowboys explored their options to add another pass rusher to their defense. Williams, who was expected to have a bigger impact in his third year, suffered a torn ACL during practice.
"First with Sam, that's a really tough break," Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said at his Tuesday press conference . "Especially for him because he was clearly going to be a primary contributor as we all felt. Excellent offseason, did the extra. Was able to see him do some work over the summer in person. It's unfortunate when these things happen. He'll do a great job in rehab."
Earlier this month, Dallas made the move to bring in a reinforcements by signing six-year veteran defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad to a one-year contract, per ESPN, and two-year veteran Shaka Toney, per ESPN. Shortly after adding him, the Cowboys waived Toney with an injury designation (groin), making more room for others on the roster.
Muhammad was a sixth-round pick (196th overall) by the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 NFL Draft, which is where he played as a rookie. After being released at the end of the 2018 preseason, the Indianapolis Colts picked him up, and he made a home there on the active roster for four seasons from 2018-2021, playing in 64 games and starting 25 of them. Muhammad recorded 11 of his 12 career sacks with the Colts in that span with the 12th coming in 2022 with the Chicago Bears. He returned to Indy last season, but the 29-year-old spent all of 2023 on the Colts' practice squad. Muhammad will have to miss one regular season game because he has a game remaining on his six-game suspension that was issued to him by the league last December for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
The Cowboys already lost defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler to Washington this offseason with both following former Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn now that he is the head coach of the Commanders, so a pass rusher going down is a significant blow. The team now needs to add some depth behind Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons.
The Cowboys continued to add depth, signing veteran defensive end Carl Lawson, who has a connection to the team. Lawson and current Cowboys defensive run game coordinator Paul Guenther were together with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2017.
Lawson showed early interest in joining the Cowboys, posting a star emoji on social media not long after Williams went down. He doesn't mention Dallas by name, but tweeting its logo makes the message seem clear.
The 29-year-old has 119 tackles, 28 of those for a loss, 27 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in his career with the Bengals and New York Jets. He most recently was with the Jets, playing in six games in 2023, with no starts and five combined tackles.
Defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Western Michigan, could end up having a larger role than initially thought this year.
"I got to step up," Kneeland said on Wednesday. "I got to be ready to play that much more. … With [Sam Williams] here, obviously I was still playing a good amount, but now it's that much more reps I have to take. I just got to step it up a notch. ... I can pass rush too. I'm not just doing that in the MAC. I can do that here too."
Williams was gearing up for his third season in the NFL, all with the Cowboys, before the injury. The 25-year-old played in 11 games last season, with 17 combined tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble.